Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

This is A legend of card game.

A great game with good to great gameplay (although probably a bit too easy after some time) and exeptional stories and characters. A must buy for every Witcher fan, and for outsiders as well.

Thronebreaker, marketed as an RPG, barely counts as a single-player adventure for Gwent, the card game. Full of annoying puzzles that won't give you enough information (expect never seen before cards you have no idea how to counter the first time around, forcing you to reload at least once), it features an overworld designed like a free-to-play mobile game (you just click around to gather resources and to get some very minor dialogues... Gathering also requires to keep the button pressed down for a couple of seconds, for some baffling reason), and "role-playing" decisions that are just sad and uninteresting (the way the protagonist is introduced, makes it really hard to care, and no choice seem to have a significant repercussion on the story). Thronebreaker wastes what little good there is in it without a care (the artstyle is nice, music is okay, and Gwent is still an interesting card game, even after they butchered it with the homecoming update), to deliver something that should in all honesty just be a Gwent DLC (maybe they thought they could trick more people into buying it this way?), and even then, the additions outside of the core gameplay come off as annoyances that get in the way of the experience, so to any good, it would ironically need to cut a good chunk of what's in there. I regret this purchase, which I eventually made because I was getting back into Gwent. Maybe I should just drop both games for good, as this is just making me miserable. I can't believe this is so highly rated, since it fails on ALL levels.

In summary, the game offers a decent story and challenging puzzles, however, it has a very tedious grind in between battles/puzzles consisting of painfully collecting resources scattered on the map. If you did not have to "move around" and instead would choose the next challenge from a list/tree and receive the resources after completing it, the game would be much better. The collection of "mini-games" which are mixed together include: Story [4/5] Quite ok, if you like to follow it. However, be prepared to be swarmed with plenty of names, factions, etc., which might be a bit steep if you have not followed the Witcher universe before. If you don't like the story, you can easily skip dialogs, however the game loses most of its appeal. Puzzles to solve [4/5] You are given specific cards with which to solve different puzzles. Some are quite tricky and require a very specific sequence to use the cards (quite some fun if you like these sort of things). If you get stuck and give up, you can cheat finding the answers on the net... Deck building / Standard combat [3/5] You have more freedom to choose your strategy, and win, than with the puzzles. If you really like this aspect of the game, Gwent is a much better choice, since you play against other players instead of the AI. However, expect some grinding as well (see point below)... Exploring / picking up items [1/5] This is extremely tedious and it feels like a complete waste of time. The movement on the map is very slow and cluncky (bad path finding, you need to move close to the items and then click again to collect them...). If you like the finding Wally/Waldo books, or the feeling of collecting resources like on cheap farm mobile games, then just don't use the map scouts and enjoy yourself. The only escape from it seems to be to use a cheat engine to speed up the game (which also might make battles more agile). Unlocks for Gwent [2/5] There are more efficient ways to use real money to get an advantage in Gwent...

DO NOT BUY THIS GAME AT FULL PRICE. Chances are it's going to crash A LOT, and you will spend more time rebooting the game than actually playing it. PLEASE test your games properly before releasing them.